Lard

Cut up the lard in smallish chunks. Place it in a big cast iron pan and add a little water to get everything started/heated up a little quicker. Put it on a medium-high fire.

As soon as it starts to boil a little, turn the heat way down. (I used the smallest burner on the lowest heat.) The water has now mixed with the fat and has gotten all mucky looking. Don’t worry about this, the water will evaporate and with that the mucky-ness.

Keep the fat on the low heat, stirring once in a while. If you have the feeling it’s still starting to boil/simmer too much, put a simmer mat/heat diffuser under your pan.

Once most of the fat has melted turn off the heat, let it cool a little and then pour the fat into a bowl. Use a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter to keep the fat ‘clean.’

Let the strained fat cool down a little, then move to the refrigerator. It will completely solidify and turn white. Use for anything that requires shortening! (Pictures of all the different stages are in the related blog post.)